So I’m writing this from a bench in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Be jealous. This is part two of my autumn vacation, NYWC Pittsburgh being part one. I’m here for a friend’s wedding. They wanted to get married in the Islands and so here we are. Actually, I think I’m the only one here as of right now. I’m waiting for two friends to arrive via a different flight. But we shall talk more of this adventure at a later time.

This is about NYWC… final thoughts, stories, ideas, etc. Ok, well this probably won’t be the last post on NYWC, but it will be the last one of substantial text. I have a few more videos I need to render down and then I’ll post those on Vimeo and embed them here for your viewing pleasure.

But what of NYWC, now that I’ve been home for a few days and have had time to process it all? I must say that this was a different convention for me. It felt different. Perhaps part of it is due to the economic situation in the US. There were a lot let people there than usual. The Exhibit Hall felt like it was suffering from the crappiness of the American dollar as well. There were, it seemed, far less exhibitors than normal. In all, though, YS did a great job putting on the Convention despite all the financial difficulties they must have run into.

I relaxed a lot more this year than in years past. I remember my first NYWC… Atlanta 2004. Like most n00bs, I tried to go to as much as possible and see all the sights, visit all the exhibits, talk to all the people…. and it was madness. I’ve learned to slow down… perhaps to join the “Slow Club” as referenced in Mark Yaconelli‘s General Session talk. I think I only went two one or two seminars. I did go to all the General Sessions, and I walked around the Exhibit Hall, though didn’t nearly feel the need to go talk to everyone or try to get all their free stuff. I slept a lot. A lot a lot. On the Sunday of the Convention I was charging my gear in my hotel room while on lunch. After lunch we decided to skip the seminar and go play some Rock Band in the YS Store. After that I headed back to the hotel to get my stuff and then go to the subsequent seminar. The next thing I knew, it was an hour later and I was on the bed. I love those kinds of naps. Anyway, there was a significant amount of relaxation and loafing about this year. It was exactly what I needed.

Yet, I still learned. I’ve talked before about my Critical Concern Course in a previous entry, but it seems that a lot of the Convention built on similar concepts and principles. There seemed to be a buzz about new ways to do ministry, forgetting the machine of YM of the past with all the crazy games and, basically, “babysitting,” and letting real discipleship and mentoring be the focus… doing life together and embracing the Way of Jesus. It ran through many of the General Session speakers, and especially hit home in the teaching of Francis Chan. It was topic of conversation in hallways and during free time. And it resonated loud and clear. I think, for the first time, this year I finally understood the concept that has been existent in NYWC’s of the past… that we need to “grow smaller.” It’s making me rethink what youth ministry is really about. It’s making me evaluate the things we are doing really good in The Bridge and the things that we could do better. Marko ended the Convention really well during General Session #7. He had a talk planned that he had been working on for months, and then at the last moment he felt God telling him that he needs to talk about something else. And he listened. And it was phenomenal. It wrapped everything together so well, and there was something in the way he was talking where it almost seemed it wasn’t him talking but God just speaking through him. I have the recordings of my Critical Concern, Francis Chan‘s talk, and Marko’s on mp3 waiting to be re-listened to so I can really get a grasp on what it all means.

The above video is from the group Living Illusions. They go around the country performing stunts and other acts and give stories or messages that tie into what is being done on stage. They don’t do so much magic tricks, though they do on occasion, but rather stunts. The video is of their full-view Water Torture Cell. There’s no trick to it. Kristen really has to hold her breath for that long and pick all the locks to get free from the cell. Pretty amazing.

It was a great Convention. I almost wish I could go to the Nashville one as well later in the month to take more of it in. I’ll have to wait until Cincinnati next year, though. Thanks, YS for a great weekend!

So here’s this week’s YS Podcast (episode #12), recapping NYWC Pittsburgh. There’s some concert footage, of which I had the honor of recording some. Make sure you check out the MercyMe shots to see the work of my shaky hand.

Also, there’s a lot of interviews mixed into the show from people in our group. Keep an eye out for Armando, Janelle, Elliott, Romulo, and Jesus. Also making an appearance, new Twitter friend, Sara. I have some pictures (to be posted soon to Flickr) from the interview time atop the Pittsburgh Convention Center roof and from our hanging out with Adam after the convention ended.

I’m sitting in my hotel room as Jesus and Carlos are talking about the past day. I can’t believe it’s almost over. Tomorrow is the last day of the Convention. It’s weird… we’ve been here for quite awhile, arriving Wednesday night, but it feels like it has gone so fast as well. There’s been so much going on and I’m pretty exhausted.

I’ve taken it pretty easy this year. I’ve only gone to a couple seminars, though I have been at every General Session, especially as I really can’t live blog something if I’m not present. I’ve spent time relaxing and hanging out with people, some who I have known for a long time and some I have just met. There has been much Rock Band playing (which is awesome) and much napping (which is even more awesome). Actually, and this is a true story, I came back to my hotel after a hearty lunch and subsequent Rock Band playing to get my gear for the pending General Session. I remember coming in the room, but then there is a blur. The next thing I remember is that it was an hour later and I was on the bed. This is an epic win as far as I am concerned. I may actually try to make it to the 9am class tomorrow, though. Of course this will only be after I make my way back over to Crazy Mocha for some more of their delicious chai tea.

What else has been happening? Well, if you have already played the above embedded video you may be wondering what the deal is with this chili pepper challenge. If you have not yet watched it, you should do so now. I’ll wait.

Ok, here’s the deal: sermonspice.com is a website that provides video resources for teachings and messages. They have some really great stuff there. Well, they had a booth in the NYWC exhibit hall in which they had three varieties of pepper available. The challenge was to take a pepper and eat it. A successful eating would earn you $25, $35, or $60 – depending on which level of heat-intensity you chose. Elliott, Jesus, and I were together when we found it. Elliott and I are the two who took the challenge. Jesus refused and said that he would never do it. Well, I took the middle-grade pepper and, let me tell you, it was a lot hotter than I expected. I started crying from it, and my throat felt as if it was closing up. Then I started to lose my voice. Good times. Anyway, then I made it my goal to get more people to take up the challenge. The above video is Janelle and Jesus’ (yes, he caved) encounter with the peppers. I do have footage of some others, but that will wait for another time.

I had the opportunity to hang out back stage for a few General Sessions while liveblogging. It was pretty cool. I mean, there’s nothing extraordinarily special about “backstage” or the “green room,” but it was still a fun experience. I got to talk, albeit briefly, with Matt Maher, Tommy and Eddie from the Skit Guys, Marko and Tic, and a few others. I also got to play a bit with YS‘s HD camera and record some convention footage for their podcast. I hope it comes out ok… or at least is usable. I’ve also got a bunch of footage from Matt Maher, Shane and Shane, and David Crowder*Band’s concerts. Hopefully I can put those together soon.

I’m going to be getting a couple of the General Session and maybe some seminars on mp3 after the convention is done. Even though I’ve had to follow what the speakers are saying to blog it, it’s still been hard to really take it in and process it all. I’m excited to re-listen to Francis Chan‘s talk. It was really amazing and I want to go back to really get a grasp on it.

I also had the opportunity to bring a few friends (those who I could get in contact with and who responded) backstage with my YS friend, Adam, for a little tour after a General Session was over. Janelle and Jenn came back to see what was going on back there and then we all were able to have a chat with Adam about what it takes to put on NYWC and some other things. We also talked about things we were doing back in NJ and he expressed how YS would love to help us with some of it. Exciting stuff.

There’s more to say, but it’s late here, and there’s a lot to do tomorrow. I’ll leave the rest for tomorrow’s entry. I’ll have more pictures posted sometime tomorrow and hopefully another video or two as well. Until then…

PS: Follow me on Twitter

I’ve been helping Youth Specialties to live blog their 2008 National Youth Worker’s Convention in Pittsburgh, and they set up a table for us to be stationed at inside the tech booth. While there, I propped my camera up and recorded some of Starfield leading the people in a time of worship.

This is Starfield covering the song “Hosanna” originally by Hillsong.

NYWC officially began today. But before that, we still had to finish up our Critical Concern Course. I begrudgingly woke up early and made my way to the 8:30 start time for part 2 of The Present Future of Youth Ministry. Let me just say that this class was amazing. If this is the only thing I take this weekend, it was worth the price of admission.

There was a lot of discussion in the class on where youth ministry has been – stretching as far back as the mid 1800′s. We looked at traditional models for YM and “how we got to where we are.” Something I didn’t realize is that the “normal model” we use as a general for youth ministry today is the same as was used in the 1940′s. We looked at cultural changes since then and what it looks like to be a teenager in that time and what it looks like to be a teenager now. The basic idea is that culture has changed so much that we cannot pursue the same models of yesterday and expect them to relate the same to youth in 2008. We went over ideologies on where we need to move from and to. Some examples are that we need to move from program-focus to people-focus – meaning that our program is irrelevant and we need to focus on the kids. Brock, our speaker, even suggested such extreme moves as to cancel your regular program and just go to where the kids are, as his group has done. Really revolutionary ideas. Other concepts, and most are tied together, are that we need need move from being attraction-based to missional based ministries, we need to stop teaching only salvation but focus on the way of Jesus instead. We need to move away from a centralized structure to a decentralized structure. Really, the concept is that we need to stop worrying so much about our traditional programs and focus on the kids themselves. Meet kids where they are. Reach out to them in their real lives. Don’t try to get them to come to us… go to them. It reminds me of something I heard on a podcast recently where the said that we need to stop treating the church as a business and let it be the Body. In the podcast they aslo posed the frightening question that “The Church is supposed to be the Body of Christ, but if a body becomes a business, doesn’t that make it a prostitute?” Anyway, the CCC really inspired me to pursue new, more relational, agenda-free ministry with the kids back home.

And then the conference began. I’ve been live blogging the General Sessions with @pattigibbons, @mattmcnutt, and @mclanea. You can read the full transcripts at nywc.com/live so I won’t go into much detail on what that’s like other than it’s really fun. I’ve been doing a lot of picture and video posts. I <3 media.

The sessions themselves are going really well. Starfield has led worship thus far and they are incredible. I learned they just released a new CD. I was going to buy it here, but I’d rather just get it on Amazon.

The speakers were great too. Mike Pilavachi spoke in the first session. I love his teachings. The only down-side is that he gave the EXACT same message this year as he did 2 years ago. It was a good message, and I as glad to hear it again, but I still would have liked to hear something new. In Session #2 they tried something different. There were 3 speakers who each spoke for 18 minutes. After each teaching there was 8 minutes of discussion and then 8 minutes of Q&A via text with the speaker. I really liked the format and would like to see more. Two of the speakers, Andrew Marin and Shoon-Chen Rah, spoke on really touchy subjects – homosexuality and racism. There was a bit of tension in the room at the start of their talks, but by the ends, great discussion was inspired. So cool.

I have to admit, I skipped the seminars for the day. Well, I went to a half hour of one with Jenn – Duff Robbins’ talk on teaching technique. We left, not because it wasn’t good… Duffy is an amazing speaker. We left to bow at the alter of the coffeeshop. We had a hankerin’ for some chai that needed remedy. And so we made our way to Crazy Mocha. They had a special drink available – the apple cider chai. It was sooo good. Tasted like warm, liquified, apple pie. We’re gonna go back in a day or two.

And it was Sarah’s 28th birthday on Friday as well. We went to eat at Mahoney’s restaurant on Liberty Ave. It was a really nice place. There was live music and entertainment the entire time we were there, and the pianist serenaded Sarah with one of her favorite songs, Piano Man by Billy Joel. The food took a bit of time to get out to us, and since I had to be back at the convention center for liveblog coverage of Session #2, and so I had to inhale my steak in about 5 minutes. I wish I could have stayed with the group, but alas.

This is getting long, so I’ll leave it at that. I will say that the convention has been incredibly fun and I’m loving every minute of it.

More to come soon.

While touring Pittsburgh before NYWC 2008 began, we found ourselves at the Monongahela Incline Plane. It’s kind of a tram that scales the side of an insanely steep clip and come out at an overlook where you can see the entire city of Pittsburgh from.

We spent some time at the top, taking pictures, and observing the scenery. And we had ice cream.

Also, see some of our pictures from NYWC.

Afterwards, we went on a little excursion through Pittsburgh. We walked through downtown and crossed the Smithfield St bridge on our way to the Monongahela Incline Plane. It’s kind of like a little tram that scales the side of a steep cliff and takes you to a scenic overlook of the entire greater Pittsburgh area. We spent some time at the overlook, taking many pictures and beholding the glory of Pittsburgh.

Afterwards we saw a sign for a nearby ice cream shoppe and made our way there. They gave you a ridiculous amount of ice cream for quite cheap. Good business.

Then, after a quick nap, it was time to check in to the convention and make our way to our Critical Concern Course. Manny and I took “The Present Future of Youth Ministry: Rethinking Traditional Youth Ministry Models.” Very good class. It deals with many things I have been wrestling with with our own youth ministry. It’s all about looking at the reasons we do ministry the way we do, where we have been, and where we need to go in order to be relevant and effective in the future. It’s a lot about refocusing on what is really important and moving in that direction even if it means shutting down pre-existing programs. We’re only half way done, so I’m excited to see what will come tomorrow.

So, it’s almost 1:30am right now. I have to be awake at 6:30 to get ready and pack and be out the door. I saw a Crazy Mocha nearby here while on our walkabout and I’m wondering if they have quality Chai tea there. I may, if I awaken early enough, make my way there before my class continues at 8:30. Also now, I am waiting for a video to finish encoding so I can upload it to Vimeo. It still has 26 minutes remaining, and though I wanted to include it in this post, I think I’ll just do it tomorrow morning.

Until then… stay up, stay true, more importantly, stay you.

He said his GPS was broken and we decided to try to find the new hotel based on my memory of where it was the last time we were here. And so we did.

Finally settling in and getting to bed around 5am, I woke up at 9, showering and getting my gear ready. Growing impatient from waiting for the rest of the crew to get ready, me and Jesu decided to go on a walkabout in Pittsburgh, ending up at the river… well, one of the rivers.

Now we’re waiting in the hotel lobby for everyone else to come downstairs so we can get some lunch and make our way to the convention center.

So it’s almost here. We’re leaving Wednesday night for Youth Specialites’ National Youth Worker’s Convention in Pittsburgh. Every year we gather a team from The Bridge and head out to one of the three conventions for a long weekend of training, encouragement, and rest in order to recharge or batteries as we prepare for another year of working with the kids in our program. It’s an amazing event.

This year is a little different for me because I have the privilege of helping YS do some new stuff while there. They tried, for the first time, liveblogging their Sacramento convention earlier this month, and it seems to have been a huge success. Well, during the Pittsburgh convention, I will be part of the liveblogging team helping to cover the event. Think of it as a real-time conversation somewhere between Twitter and a full-fledged blog, with an up-to-date stream of what’s happening that those at home can follow along with. The liveblog host, CoverItNow.com also supports photo and video uploads into the stream.

You’ll be able to follow the liveblog stream at http://nywc.com/live.

I’ll be joining an entourage of fine and talented bloggers from across the country. I don’t actually know who else will be covering the event, but trust me, they are youth workers of the highest quality and caliber.

My goal for the weekend is to also update my own blog, conveniently located right here in this very location, every day, or almost every day. In addition I will, as I have always done, take an obscene amount of photographs. I’d also like to take a lot of HD video there and put together a daily, or semi-daily recap of what is going on… maybe even a convention video when all is said and done. It really depends on how much time I have and where I am located in proximity to the action. And how quickly I can get the high-quality content out. I do also have my Flip Video camera for super quick film to upload, most likely while liveblogging.

Anyway, the convention starts on Thursday (for those taking a Critical Concern Course), of which I am one. We leave Elizabeth at 6pm Wednesday to make the 7-hour trek across Pennsylvania.

More to come soon.

1. The Equip Conference is less than two weeks away and there is still a lot to do. There’s a whole write-up about it here. The past few weeks we’ve been finalizing schedules, planning the different finite details, etc. I had to make a promo card and send it to print rather quickly so that we could get it out in time. I had to get a website up and running just to have a place to put information. I would link to it, but I had to do it in such haste that it really is a hideous eyesore and so I shall refrain. If you think hard enough and put a little effort into it, you should be able to find it on your own. But yeah, those were just some of the tasks that needed completion. It was a lot to do. Still lots more to do.

2. Bachelor party. We had a bachelor party for my brother a few weeks back. We went to New York to Caroline’s on Broadway to see Judah Friedlander perform. We took the PATH to the World Trade Center and walked about 20 blocks north until we finally decided to take public transportation. We split, half taking a cab, the other half – my half – trying to take a cab but failing and ending up in the Houston St subway station. We beat our cab-riding friends to Times Square by a good 20 minutes. Can I just take the time to say that I hate Times Square? I like New York, but Times Square is just too out of control. Way too many people and commotion. It takes forever to get a single block. And there’s way too many tourists. Anyway, the comedy show was good. We sad about 1/2′ from the stage. Literally. AJ and Michael were picked on the whole evening, since they were so close to Judah that they could probably smell his breath. It was a good time. Afterwards we went to the Apple Store (of course) on 5th Ave and browsed for a bit. I bought a pair of headphones. We bought Jimmy an Apple TV for the wedding. Afterwards we went to Wo Hop… pretty much the best Chinese food in the City. They’re open 24 hours a day. You simply must go. It’s the one underground. 17 Mott St. The above-ground one next door, 15 Mott, is a copy and not as good.

3. Softball games. I recently told a friend, who is the assistant coach for Elizabeth High School’s softball team, that I would help her out by taking pictures of her team so she can give them out to the player at the end of the year. We took pictures over a few games and now I have to finish editing them a bit and putting the players names on them so we can print them out. I think I’m past due on them, so I have to get a move on it. What’s nice is that there’s a girl on the team who was a part of our youth program a few years back but I haven’t really seen much of since then. It was great to get to see her play and to catch up a bit with her. I do have to say that I really enjoy going to see the games. There’s not much else quite like sitting on a bleacher on a nice sunny day watching a baseball or softball game. It reminds me that I do have to make my way out to Shea at least one more time this season before they tear it down and move to Citi Field next year.

4. The Wedding. So my brother got married. I was the “best man” as it is called. The ceremony was nice. It was held in the Lakewood Country Club in Lakewood, NJ. Normally a wedding day is hectic and stressful, from what I hear. Not this one. At least not for the guys. Most people stayed at my brother’s house the night before. I had a meeting that ran to midnight and so I did not want to drive 45 minutes to his house that late. Instead I slept at home… until 11:30 in the afternoon. Those at his house did the same. Then woke and went to Famous Dave’s for some barbecue for lunch. I had a sandwich from 7-Eleven and bought some tape for the video recording on my way to his house. I arrived shortly before they came home. Upon their return there was a great amount of Guitar Hero play and relaxation. Around 3 we decided it was time to leave and we headed out, making a quick stop at a CVS for some socks as I forgot to bring some. Inside the store there was a great debate, lasting several minutes, between the clerk and a customer about whether or not Dr Pepper was a Coca-Cola product. And when I say “several minutes” I mean about 10… in which we had to wait. Alas, we finally made it back on the road and arrived at out destination.

It was an outside wedding, and the reception was help in the adjacent building. It was not an overly large nor a small wedding but rather a decently sized one. I took many photographs of the occasion, though I was not the wedding photographer. On a side note, my regular Canon SD900 seems to have broken on transit to the wedding, and that is why the wedding photos are in a full-resolution scale rather then widescreen as I normally take them. I had to use my backup. I took photos, in addition to the fact that I pretend to be a professional photographer, because my grandmother who is in the hospital was not able to come to the celebration and wanted to see pictures right away. The real photographer’s photos will not be ready for some time, and so we needed some instant pics. And so I took, with some help when I actually had to be in the ceremony, 420 shots throughout the evening. Anyway, we got changed (yes, I wore a tuxedo, though I tried as much as I reasonably could to avoid it). The ceremony lasted about a half hour and we moved inside to the reception party. This lasted much longer as the DJ seemed to not want to stop playing music until well after 12:30am. There was much dancing and talking and laughing. A few videos are posted on my Viddler account of the reception.

It seemed people were a bit nervous about me doing the toast. They seem to be uneasy as I never plan, when I have to speak in front of people, the exact details of what I have to say. Instead I plan three or four points, think about them a bit, and talk “off the cuff” on those topics. They said the toast went well. I’m glad for that. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I’m glad the others enjoyed it.

5. Ninja! Romulo’s birthday was this past Friday. Apparently he was of mind to have a weekend-long celebration in his own honor. And so he called and said that Sunday after church and after the class I teach to come to NY and we would go to a Japanese restaurant. The restaurant he chose was Ninja New York. And so, after a full day of church services a group departed for the City. I had to stay behind to teach my computer class at 7:30. I ended promptly at 8:30 (and I really sped through the information) and made my way, by bike, to the Elizabeth train station. I purchased my ticket and boarded the Northeast Corridor to Newark Penn Station. Upon entering the train I had to find a convenient, non-fire-hazard place to stand with my bike, and so I found one. The conductor came by and collected the tickets. She said that I paid too much because I selected Newark Airport (code 101) instead of Newark Penn Station (code 100). Oops. Well, I made it to Penn and made my way (quickly) to the PATH platform, hoisted my bike above my head, and went through the turnstile. I got on the PATH and it quickly filled. A man was there with a folded little scooter telling me to be careful because the PATH conductor had just come by and yelled at a guy who had a bike because it was a particularly busy Sunday night. I told him that the website said I could bring a bike on at this time, so let the conductor be mad if they so please. I had more conversation with the scooterman on the PATH as he was on his way to visit his girlfriend in Journal Square and my stop, (World Trade Center, NY) was beyond this. He works for Princeton University in the Office of Public Affairs. He noticed my “Join Me in the Fight Against Poverty” button from Compassion that I was wearing and asked about it. It seems he hooks up with organizations like that and connects them with students at the University. He said to contact him and gave me a business card. It is sitting in front of me as I type this. Anyway, I got to the World Trade Center and walked to Church St, mounted my bike and made my way to 25 Hudson St.. to Ninja.

It was an incredible atmosphere. There is a very small greeting area and then they call downstairs to prepare for your arrival. They place you alone in an elevator whose lights dim as it descends. A ninja greets you downstairs and asks if you want the shortcut or the secret ninja path. I chose the shortcut as my friends were already waiting for me. As you walk through the maze they have setup, ninja jump from all corners, yelling and startling you. It is decorated as a medieval Japanese ninja castle, with stone walls and torches and little rivers. The dining quarters are private rooms, accommodating the various party sizes. Ninjas take your order, serve you, and spy on you as you eat. I must say that I’ve never been to a restaurant quite like this. It was pretty amazing. The food was very good. We got a steak and crab combo. There was some potato meal with it, and of course I got some rice. I will say that it is very expensive. Very very expensive. More that I was really ready for. Nevertheless, the whole experience was amazing. They do have one other Ninja restaurant in Tokyo. If you have some extra money to burn and want a great experience with great food, definitely check out Ninja New York. Afterwards, we made our way back to the PATH and finally ended up home.

Ninja logo photo by Mil

It has been a long past few weeks. The next two weeks seem like they will be equally busy. Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently in the upcoming days as to not have another massively long post. Until then, peace be with you.

I’ve uploaded several dozens of photos to Flickr from the past few weeks. Be sure to check out all the new galleries.